Comments on: The scrupulous gadabout genius

The scrupulous gadabout genius

unliteral — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 21:32:47 -0800

David Frost - RIP

My David Frost YouTube picks in chronological order, except for the Beatles (some are extracts): Prince Charles - exhausted my poor policeman (1969). Truman Capote - love and friendship (1969). Huntington Hartford - peace (1969). Emil Savundra [Part 1] [Part 2] - trial by television (1967) Eric Idle in the audience. Felix Dennis - yes, that episode (1970). Muhammad Ali - boxing (1972). Margaret Thatcher - the sinking of the Belgrano (1985). Linda Mullen - Kinghorn Station (1991) Stephen Fry - celibacy (1993).

Paul McCartney. John and Yoko [Part 1] [Part 2]. Ringo Starr. George Harrison.

By: unliteral

unliteral — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 21:35:16 -0800

Doh! 1967 did come after 1969 didn't it?

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 21:44:33 -0800

I knew we were waiting for an obit thread about David Frost for a reason, evidently it was for you to find that Marty Feldman Clip! TWTWTW was the grandfather of so many news/satire/humor shows... from SNL to John Stewart, and Frost's later work (ie the Nixon interview) was outstanding. We've lost a tremendous talent.

By: birdhaus

birdhaus — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 21:45:51 -0800

I also miss the "That Was the Week That Was" David, both BBC and NBC(audio only) versions. R. I. P., Mr. Frost.

By: madamjujujive

madamjujujive — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 21:47:17 -0800

TW3, or That Was the Week That Was. The Nixon interview was amazing.

By: Artw

Artw — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 21:50:50 -0800

. It's been a crazy week.

By: philip-random

philip-random — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 22:02:06 -0800

Doh! 1967 did come after 1969 didn't it? only if you insist on viewing things chronologically. And speaking of Beatles. This is great. Hey Jude live in studio.

By: Token Meme

Token Meme — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 22:14:48 -0800

By: arcticseal

arcticseal — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 23:04:51 -0800

Seriously talented man, to extract what he did from Nixon was masterful. .

By: Vibrissae

Vibrissae — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 23:22:59 -0800

By: homunculus

homunculus — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 23:42:24 -0800

By: runincircles

runincircles — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 00:28:20 -0800

By: Joey Michaels

Joey Michaels — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 01:44:25 -0800

By: Mister Bijou

Mister Bijou — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 01:54:29 -0800

The Nixon interview was amazing. Interesting backstory too: "After his resignation in 1974, Nixon spent more than two years away from public life. In 1977, he granted Frost an exclusive series of interviews. Nixon was already publishing his memoirs at the time; however, his publicist Irving "Swifty" Lazar believed that by using television Nixon could reach a mass audience. In addition, Nixon was going through a temporary cash flow problem with his lawyers, and needed to find a quick source of income. Frost's New York-based talk show had been recently cancelled, leaving him consigned to a career based around the stories covered by the proto-reality show Great Escapes. As Frost had agreed to pay Nixon for the interviews, the American news networks were not interested, regarding them as checkbook journalism. They refused to distribute the program and Frost was forced to fund the project himself while seeking other investors, who eventually bought air time and syndicated the four programs." Also: Nixon's fee was US$600,000 and a 20% share of any profits. Source

By: NordyneDefenceDynamics

NordyneDefenceDynamics — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 03:02:19 -0800

By: epo

epo — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 03:19:30 -0800

People who don't remember it from the time should watch the Savundra interviews: a high profile fraudster, who was expected to be somewhat contrite but tries to bluster it out, is lured into a false sense of security and gets skewered. It made Frost's reputation as an interviewer and became the template for those who followed him. And RIP to a true original.

By: Renoroc

Renoroc — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 04:32:44 -0800

By: MuffinMan

MuffinMan — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 05:45:50 -0800

The man had a bizarro career. He started in political comedy, moved into serious journalism, ended up in light entertainment and latterly moved back to political journalism. Before Frost/Nixon (the movie and play), there is a whole generation of British adults who only knew David Frost as the guy who hosted "Through the Keyhole."

By: DigDoug

DigDoug — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 05:50:40 -0800

Wow! I had never seen that George Harrison interview. [jerk] .

By: Mister Bijou

Mister Bijou — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 06:02:14 -0800

The man had a bizarro career. How David Frost went from television frontman to visionary tycoon

By: devious truculent and unreliable

devious truculent and unreliable — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 06:45:43 -0800

Stephen Fry told this story about Frost on "QI" : Stephen No, I . . . it was . . . I did one of his Sunday morning programmes when you're supposed to look at the papers of David Frost, and behind, I had this other guest coming in; I didn't know who else was in; it was Sunday morning, for God's sake; I was barely alive. Er . . . But I heard the voice behind me: [as David Frost] "Boutros Boutros. Always a pleasure!" This is . . . Absolutely, that's story's . . . He does . . . He's fantastic, by the way."

By: asok

asok — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 08:14:44 -0800

He might have been a bit establishment by the time I was old enough to watch him, but he certainly kicked ass in the 60's! He sold his shares in London Weekend Television, which he co-founded and which would have been worth tens of millions of pounds, in order to fund the Nixon interviews. Dedication and apparently a man of a thousand schemes. Lucky for him that one paid off in notoriety. .

By: RainyJay

RainyJay — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 10:17:28 -0800

By: fearfulsymmetry

fearfulsymmetry — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 11:51:12 -0800

Although he kinda coasted with Through the Keyhole in later years, a the news report on his death reminded he could still do the business - he totally nailed Blair when he asked him if him and Bush prey together; Blair's reaction was priceless

By: madamjujujive

madamjujujive — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 12:21:33 -0800

"totally nailed Blair when he asked him if him and Bush prey together" - fearful symmetry, was there ever a more appropriate Freudian slip? I like how your mind works ;-)

By: unliteral

unliteral — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 16:18:26 -0800

lured into a false sense of security and gets skewered There was also the fact that he was high as a kite on pethidine. I had never seen that George Harrison interview. [jerk] Sorry about that. I wanted to have a fab four but the only George I could find was audio only.

By: w0mbat

w0mbat — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 20:51:16 -0800

My dad did a lot of comedy writing for David Frost in the 60s, when Frost was doing satire shows rather than interview shows. He always said that Frost was a class act. It was an incredible time and place to be. At one point Frost had all the future members of Monty Python on staff except possibly Terry Gilliam. It was the arena that brought Python together.